Hi, I have a quick question regarding the amount of classes I took, these are my classes (not including electives or gym, only core classes):
Freshman:
History Honors
English Honors
French I
Science Honors
Alg II Honors
Sophomore:
History Honors
English Honors
French II
IB Bio
IB Chem
Precalc Honors
Junior:
IB History
IB English
French III
IB Chem II
IB Physics
IB Math HL I
AP Stats
Senior:
IB History II
IB English II
IB French IV
IB Physics II
IB Environmental Science
IB Math HL II
These are the core classes I took along with numerous elective. My question, since I took so many courses (by graduating I will have 30.5 out of a max 32 credits) this means I had 3 free blocks my entire high school career. Will colleges notice that I took so many classes and will this look favorably for me? Will it look better that I took so many advanced classes and got good grades in them? Or would it have been equally impressive if I never doubled up in math or science?
They won’t be impressed that you had only three free periods. All they will be concerned with is do you have the most rigorous load as per your counselor. Be careful that you don’t come off as a grade drone in your application. They don’t necessarily want to see a million high test scores in IB, AP, subject tests, etc…though of course those things are good. If you are really interested in science, then it’s good you took lots of science, but don’t expect it to wow them over another kid who has a rigorous course load but also is really interested in art or music. See my point? Grades are not everything if you are thinking of applying to top colleges.
Thanks for your feedback Lindagaf, but I was talking from a pure grades perspective, without extra curriculars and such. I want people’s feedback only on the classes I took, that is why thats all I listed.
You want a schedule to be strong enough that your guidance counselor will check off that you have taken the most rigorous schedule available in your school. You can talk to your guidance counselor to be sure that will be the case. Other than that it is great that you have taken a strong curriculum that reflects your interest in the sciences…but so have tons of other applicants so be sure that the rest of your application is equally strong (ex. standardized tests, ECs, recommendations, essays, etc.)
Many students overload. That is part of the game these days. Being able to handle a rigorous course load is one of the things that schools will want to see. But to distinguish those that meet certain criteria but don’t make it to the next round, from those that get offers, the motivation behind taking so many courses will become important. If you are being considered by the top schools, they will infer about motivation by looking carefully at letters of rec and other indices that can give a reasonable indication of what motivates a student.Keep in mind that students are now orienting their entire high school career towards things they think will get them into the “best colleges”. So those that do those things end up putting a lot of time and energy into activities that make them into carbon copies of each other. Cramming in as many courses as possible may be one of those things. But, a student may take loads of math and science for other reasons too. So the reasons are probably important.
The number of classes you have taken is very impressive, considering many of them are IB courses. It definitely won’t hurt you to have a surplus of classes, and in fact will likely make you a more favorable candidate (in my opinion).
Overall, it doesn’t make much of a difference, as long as you received good grades in them. Good luck 